Record Shop Red Hook

Community space, studio, venue and top-notch used vinyl hub: In an isolated corner of Brooklyn, a simply named storefront is anything but.

You won’t find much online about Record Shop Red Hook. Yet on any given weekend, this homey, unmarked storefront just off the South Brooklyn waterfront bubbles with activity: Record fiends thumbing through wares, neighborhood kids skipping in and out the front door and friends hanging out for a quick and/or extended chat. If the store thrives on a distinctly communal energy, it’s no accident. True to the simplicity of its name – or lack of one – Record Shop was conceived by its beloved owner (and occasional carpenter/musician/thespian) Bene Coopersmith as a thoroughly unpretentious space best served by strong word of mouth. Originally opened in 2015 as a way for Coopersmith to purge the runoff of his absurdly vast vinyl collection, Record Shop is now known to those in the know as one of the best places to pick up quality, well-priced used records in the city, while the neighborhood transitions into something far less recognizable to longtime residents. Bene guides us through a few of the tracks that have helped define this very special shop, from eccentric R&B, calypso and Haitian folk to favorites from Pharoah Sanders, Curtis Mayfield, Nina Simone and Leonard Cohen.

Credits:

Interview by Jordan RothleinProduced by Jeff Mao and Jordan RothleinEngineered by Denis Hürter